Pembina Pipeline (PBA) Upgraded From Hold to Buy

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Pembina Pipeline (PBA) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from Hold to Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate PEMBINA PIPELINE CORP (PBA) a BUY. This is driven by multiple strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and increase in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 6.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 11.1%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.

The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.39, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.31, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.

Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 115.34% to $188.00 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, PEMBINA PIPELINE CORP has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -1.90%.

The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income increased by 4.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $71.90 million to $75.00 million.